Department Spotlight

In the midst of escalating violence throughout
the world, Whitworth junior Benjamin Metcalf will travel to The
Hague, The Netherlands, this summer to develop conflict- resolution
and -prevention skills at the seventh annual international student
symposium hosted by the Institute for International Mediation and
Conflict Resolution.

The four-week symposium on negotiation and conflict
resolution will take place July 20- Aug. 17, 2002, and will expose
Metcalf, an economics major with political science and psychology
minors, to multicultural discussion about the dynamics and prevention
of deadly conflict.

"It was a tremendously competitive seminar to
be accepted for, and Ben's selection speaks volumes of him,"
says Whitworth Psychology Professor James Waller, author of the
book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People
Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, published this year by
Oxford University Press.

A resident of West Linn, Ore., Metcalf transferred
to Whitworth last year from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

"Through experiences I had last year training
with the Naval ROTC at Colorado and in Dr. Waller's Introduction
to Holocaust and Genocide Studies course, I found a passion in my
heart to learn, understand, and one day, work toward both preventing
and stopping deadly conflict," says Metcalf, who is especially
interested in learning the process of healing victims' emotional
and psychological wounds in the aftermath of mass conflict.

The symposium in The Netherlands will provide
Metcalf access to an international network of conflict-resolution
professionals who will help him develop a diplomatic and theoretical
foundation to prevent and resolve conflict. When he returns to the
United States, Metcalf can share with his community the skills he
learned at the symposium.

"This summer symposium is an excellent way for
Ben to develop his passion for healing and reconciliation after
ethno-political conflict such as genocide, mass killing, war and
other forms of collective violence," Waller says.

The Institute for International Mediation and
Conflict Resolution works in partnership with Erasmus University
of Rotterdam and the Elliot School of International Affairs at George
Washington University. Program faculty include scholars, negotiation
and mediation experts, current and former diplomats, and conflict-resolution
specialists.

"The caliber of students attending this symposium
is high, and I feel very honored to have this opportunity," Metcalf says.